• ‘Naira Needs To Be Adjusted’
To overcome challenges of a weakening economy, significant losses in export receipts, as well as, pressing need for development spending, the Nigerian government has been urged to shift focus to mobilising domestic non-oil revenue for infrastructure and social development.

Speaking exclusively to The Guardian yesterday, at the 2015 World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru, the Director of African Department at the IMF, Ms Antoinette Sayeh, stressed that prioritising and improving efficiency of public spending is crucial in enhancing economic sustainability of the country.

She reiterated the Fund’s stance that Nigeria devalues the Naira, adding that government needed to also busy itself with “undertaking structural reforms to boost competiveness, create jobs, and promote inclusive growth.”
“We think it is appropriate to have the exchange rate adjusted. The Central Bank measures to limit access to foreign exchange, the ban on certain imports as a way of restricting the demand for foreign exchange, as well as, other administrative measures, may be detrimental, we think. It has certainly led to a lot of unhappiness in the private sector, as far as we have been aware, and understands that private investors see this as very detrimental to their economic
activities, ” she said.

Lack of a substantive minister of finance may have taken a slight toll on Nigeria’s participation in the 2015 meetings, as the country was noticeably absent in many of the African caucus meetings at the
event.

When The Guardian accosted former minister of finance, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, seeking her views on her expectations from her successor, she refused to comment on matters specific to Nigeria. “I would rather prefer we speak, at the appropriate time, on regional and African issues. But let us leave Nigeria aside for now. I have done my part and it’s now time for me to sit back and watch how things evolve,” she said.

But praising the government’s determination at stemming the tide of corruption in the country, Sayeh calls for a more focused anti-graft
crusade.

She said: “We (at the IMF) welcome the authorities’ focus on fighting corruption, enhancing transparency, and improving security, and would also highlight the need for robust institutional
frameworks that will endure— that is how the war is won.”